More out of work in Warrnambool, retail starting to hurt

One Warrnambool trader described retail as "dreadfully quiet" with another saying sales were down by as much as 20 per cent. The financial pressure has even caused some businesses to close.

New data out on Thursday showed significant drops in unemployment in regional areas falling to 2.8 per cent.

It's the lowest ever in regional Victoria - according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics - and lower than the national regional jobless rate of 3.2 per cent.

But while Warrnambool's unemployment rate was lower than the state average at 2.5 per cent, it was a jump from 12 months ago when it hit a low of 0.9 per cent.

This time last year businesses were crying out for staff with restaurants among those hit hard and forced to close some nights or scale back hours. Other sectors such as aged care are still struggling to fill vacancies.

Over the past 12 months that low figure has been slowly creeping higher to 2.5 per cent, but is still below the post-pandemic figure of 3.2 per cent in March 2022.

Daizy Boutique owner Maree Wills said things had been slow since Easter. "It's dreadful quiet," she said.

As well as slowing sales, she said the rising costs were having an impact.

"Wages have gone up, superannuation has gone up, Workcover's gone up, insurance has gone up and even bank fees have gone up and power costs have all gone up," she said.

Businessman, city councillor Max Taylor, said sales were 15 to 20 per cent down on last year but they were probably on par with pre-COVID levels. He said he wasn't sure if winter or the cost of living was to blame.

However, the owner of Tayor's Surfodesy said sales had been huge coming out of the pandemic when Melbourne people unable to fly elsewhere chose to visit regional Victoria.

"As much as I don't like saying it, COVID was extra good to us," he said. "All Victoria country had record sales."

Phinc owner Traci Togni said the cost of living had certainly impacted business. "I'm seeing a slight decline," she said.

Ms Togni said she hadn't noticed the impact until now. "It's making me more aware of what to be preparing for next season when buying," she said.

"I'm not sitting back and complaining...it could be worse. I know there's others doing it harder."

Victoria's overall unemployment rate remains at a historical low 3.7 per cent.

More than 1100 new jobs were created in regional Victoria last month, bumping the total number of people in work in the regions to 856,000 - also a record high.

Warrnambool was among the regions highlighted for its low unemployment rate this week.

The expanding number of jobs coincides with bureau data showing thousands of people putting roots down in regional Victoria, with almost 1.6 million people now living outside metropolitan Melbourne.

Treasurer Tim Pallas said people wanted to live in regional Victoria because of the strong jobs market.

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